Erickson: Goal Is To Start, End At No. 1

Chalk Talk - COLLEGES '92 - Miami report

September 4, 1992|By George Diaz of The Sentinel Staff

The Orlando Sentinel: You were undefeated last season and claimed a share of the national championship. What do you do for an encore?

Dennis Erickson: We want to go No. 1 wire-to-wire. That's our goal going in. We've accomplished a lot of things here, but we haven't done that. Our No. 1 goal is to get into a major bowl. Those are our two goals: Get into a major bowl and compete for the national championship.

Q: You obviously don't share a lot of common goals with teams throughout the country. What gives you that psychological edge?

A: When I was at Washington State and Wyoming, the goals were a little bit different. The goal at Washington State my last year was to get into a bowl game. My first year at Wyoming was to go .500 because we had only won two games the year before. You establish a program by building new goals every year. We know where this program is at, so the goals become the same every year.

Q: You are refining the playbook by incorporating the shotgun and the no-huddle. Why?

A: Just to keep improving on what we're doing. The game is always changing. You just have to stay on top of it.

Q: Based on preseason predictions, most observers expect you to repeat as national champions. What are your biggest concerns that may prevent Miami from making those expectations come true?

A: The two biggest problems are the offensive front. (Strong tackle) Mario harder. We had to plug in four new starters. The secondary is a concern because Darryl Williams (an All-America free safety) left. Replenishing the secondary won't be quite as difficult as the offensive line.

Cristobal wasn't there in the spring because of knee surgery, so that makes it Q: Can you go undefeated again?

A: Our first five games, two are on the road against tough opponents (Iowa and Penn State). If we're 5-0, we've got a chance.

Q: Are you in favor of a playoff system in college football? That obviously would have settled the dispute between Miami and Washington last season.

A: It doesn't bother me because 12 games is enough. We won our game. They won their game. We just didn't want to play any more. It just gave everybody something to talk about.